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Investing.com - Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), announced it will start collecting data in New York City beginning next month. The move represents the autonomous driving company’s first foray into the nation’s largest mobility market. The initiative comes as Alphabet, currently valued at over $2 trillion and showing strong revenue growth of ~13%, continues to leverage its robust financial position. According to InvestingPro analysis, Alphabet is currently trading below its Fair Value, suggesting potential upside for investors.
Citizens JMP analyst Andrew Boone reiterated a Market Perform rating on Alphabet following the announcement. The analyst noted that New York City likely represents the most complex operating environment for Waymo’s autonomous vehicles to date. InvestingPro data reveals that Alphabet maintains excellent financial health with a "GREAT" overall score, supported by strong profitability metrics and solid cash flows.
The upcoming data collection will mark the first time Waymo vehicles will need to navigate snowy conditions, a significant technical challenge for autonomous driving systems. This weather-related hurdle has been a key consideration for self-driving technology deployment in northern regions.
New York City’s status as the largest mobility market in the United States makes it a strategically important location for Waymo’s expansion plans. The dense urban environment presents unique challenges with its complex street grid, high pedestrian traffic, and varied transportation infrastructure.
"We view Waymo’s potential expansion to NYC as symbolic that the company can expand to any geography in the U.S.," Citizens JMP stated in its analysis of the development. The data collection phase represents an early step toward potential commercial autonomous vehicle services in the city.
In other recent news, Google is under investigation by Turkey’s antitrust board regarding its "Performance Max" ad campaign. The probe aims to determine if Google is misusing its market position in online advertising and whether the campaign offers fair treatment to advertisers. Meanwhile, an adviser to Europe’s highest court has recommended dismissing Google’s appeal against a €4.3 billion fine related to its Android operating system, suggesting the penalty should be upheld. Additionally, Google has expanded its partnership with Databricks, integrating its Gemini models into the Databricks AI lineup to enhance AI applications for various industries. In a strategic move, Google has also appointed Koray Kavukcuoglu as its new chief AI architect to advance its AI product development. Kavukcuoglu, who will report directly to CEO Sundar Pichai, will retain his role at DeepMind while taking on these new responsibilities. These developments highlight Google’s ongoing focus on both regulatory challenges and technological advancements.
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